BlackFilm.com recently interviewed the beautiful Zoe Saldana about three of her upcoming films, two are blockbusters and one an independent project.
Saldana will be starring as Neytiri in James Cameron’s highly touted “Avatar” and a new indie titled “Blackout.” And, though not mentioned in the interview, she can also be seen in the upcoming political action film “Vantage Point” with Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver and “Lost” star Matthew Fox. However, the real buzz for the young actress is her taking over the reigns from the legendary Nichelle Nichols as Uhura for the next big “Star Trek” movie due out on Christmas Day 2008.
Here is the Star Trek related portion of that BlackFilm.com interview:
What attracted you to the film?
Zoe Saldana (ZS): (Director) J.J. Abrams had expressed an interest in working with me and he had liked my work. For an actor, that’s all you need. That’s all you want. To get the acknowledgement and respect from your peers; and so I went out and met him. He then said, ‘I don’t need to see you anymore’ and I felt really good. I felt like I did it. I earned it.
Were you a fan of the original series?
ZS: I never saw that. I was not a fan until now and I have so much admiration for what they did, and how much the series continues to grow after 45 years and I had the honor of meeting Nichelle Nichols and working with Leonard Nimoy and it was fantastic.
How was you meeting with Nichelle Nichols?
ZS: I was able to sit down with her and she told me the whole story of how Uhura came to be and where they were going with her character, but it all fell into place the moment she walked into the door and auditioned for the part. She named the character herself and it was a special thing and she felt as an artist, she was going to make the part big.
How did you feel when you first tried on the uniform?
ZS: It was very interesting. The moment everything came together from the hair, the costume, being on the set, and then you start to feel, ‘Okay, this is real. This is amazing and fun’.
You can catch her entire interview HERE.
Just watching her will be worth the $8 admission.
I am watching this cast assemble with increasing dread. Can you say, “Star Trek 90210”?
Put together a pretty cast, add some flashy effects, ignore the story, and you know what you get? “Starship Troopers”! That’s what you get!
I don’t know; Pegg, Quinto, and Greenwood have proven themselves in my opinion.